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Posts Tagged ‘sam querrey’

One particular man anyway, at least to begin with. JMDP was fairly solid in a straight sets victory over twentieth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, with the exception of minor kerplosions serving for the first set and the match. But he got it done anyway, 76(3) 63. Round of sixteen, baby. At a Masters.

All about the heart.

And the arms.

And the legs.

It was a frustrating match for Dolgopolov, who is such a fun and funky player but couldn’t quite rein it in at crucial moments. Couple that with some smoking forehands from JMDP and, well. JMDP plays Philipp Kohlschreiber yet, who caused a sensation by taking out Robin Soderling in straight sets. Something of a surprise given the fourth seed’s stellar 2011 so far (Australian Open excepted), but apparently Soderling had a left foot injury and may be doubtful for Miami. At least he didn’t make any catty remarks about “real tennis”. Speaking of which …

Sam Querrey has apparently finally arrived in 2011, beating Verdasco 75 64 to set up a fourth round meeting with Tommy Robredo, who dismissed Donald Young 60 64, thereby succeeding in making Andy Murray look even worse. Verdasco’s bete noir, young Milos Raonic, hasn’t quite flashed his pan yet, beating former victim and thirteenth seed Mardy Fish. He’ll meet the American wildcard Ryan Harrison in the third round after the aforesaid upset twenty-second seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

It would be interesting to see these two face off. In fact there’s a superfluity of really interesting third-round matches from the bottom half of the draw tonight, starting with Roddick v. Isner and ending with Cilic v. Wawrinka, taking in Gasquet v. Melzer, Troicki v. Llodra, Gulbis v. Djokovic and Berdych v. Bellucci. Why was I slagging off this tournament again?

Points of interest: Delpo, Delpo, Delpo … and his first round match with defending finalist John Isner. Delpo’s won both of their meetings so far, but Isner’s improved since 2009 and it’s just a big ask for Delpo right now. Having said that, at least he’s sharp. Otherwise, it’s mainly seeing how many of the eight American men in the draw can make it past the first round and being amused that San Jose finalists Raonic and Verdasco will be meeting in the first round.

Points of interest: The South American clay swing is so incestuous, I feel like I’ve thought about all these match-ups many, many times in the past two weeks. Anyway, if we’re not going to get this level of sexy bromance, then this may not be the tournament for me. But you know … I wish them well. And does anybody else think that Stan Wawrinka looks really quite like French international Dmitri Yachvilli?

Points of interest: It’s everybody who played in Rotterdam, just on slightly faster courts. And yet … the interest. Former better-half-of-Bendra, restaurant victim Julien Benneteau, returns to the tour only to face not just the defending champion, but the man who dumped him for Nenad Zimonjic in the doubles department, in the first round. Wildcard Grigor Dmitrov gets abs-flashing partner in crime Dmitry Tursunov, while Nikolay Davydenko and Gilles Simon – both unseeded! – will play each other.

I’ve decided the best way to sum up Friday and Saturday’s action at Wimbledon is to look forward to Manic Monday, a.k.a. the greatest day of tennis in all the year, when the entire R16 – men and women – play on the same day.

Roger Federer v Jurgen Melzer

H2H: 0-0

Roger’s got his Wimbledon back on track with a straight sets victory over Arnaud Clement, a good match-up for him at the best of times. Jurgen Melzer toiled slightly more with a four-set win over Feliciano Lopez. Doubles partners in the juniors, these two have unbelievably never played on the senior tour. Melzer can be a tricky opponent and knocked out Novak Djokovic at the French Open, and Roger has obviously looked wobbly, but I reckon he’s found his feet now. Prediction: Roger in four.

Winner to meet …

Tomas Berdych v Daniel Brands

H2H: 0-0

Daniel Brands has, for me, been one of the surprises of the tournament; after beating Igor Andreev, Nikolay Davydenko, and Victor Hanescu (albeit in circumstances which bear examination, more on that later), he’s now through to the round of sixteen in his very first Wimbledon. And that’s not something that every bronzed sex god can pull out of the bag (I saw him at several points during Wimbledon, and he is.) He’s been excellent in tiebreaks and high-pressure situations, but Berdych certainly should be a bridge too far; he won his first two matches in straights and did get taken to five by Denis Istomin – but Istomin has been having some very good results of late. Definitely the hottest match of the day, anyway … Prediction: Berdych in three.

Novak Djokovic v Lleyton Hewitt

H2H: 3-1

Probably the most eagerly anticipated match-up of the day on the men’s side, what’s surprising to me is that Nole has won both of their previous meetings on grass; once at Queens in 2008, and once at this stage during Wimbledon in 2007. Since that time, however, Nole has been floundering – not least at Wimbledon – and Lleyton is arguably riding a great wave of confidence, coming off a win against Federer in Halle and a very decent Wimbledon last year. Everyone seems to be giving the edge to Hewitt, who’s had a good run including a straight sets defeat of Gael Monfils in the third round; Nole, on the other hand, seemed to make progress in his defeat of Taylor Dent, but laboured to a victory over a dreadful Montanes. I’m going with Nole, however, in the hope that that will Make It True. Prediction: Nole in five.

Winner to meet …

Andy Roddick v Yen-Hsun Lu

H2H: 3-0

Please. Despite many predictions of an early exit, Roddick has withstood inspired tennis from Michael Llodra and Philipp Kohlschreiber to be in the fourth round. When he does go out, it won’t be to Lu – no disrespect to the player from Chinese Taipei, who I saw putting paid to Horacio Zeballos in the very first round. Prediction: If it isn’t Roddick in three, something’s gone seriously wrong somewhere.

Julien Benneteau v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

H2H: 3-3

Neither of these two have had a very smooth route through, but through they are as part of a stellar showing for France at this year’s Championships. Benneteau has played fourteen sets in beating Vliegen, Beck and Fognini’s eyebrows, while Jo was stretched to the limit by the artist formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. in the second round. I’m surprised their head-to-head is so evenly balanced, but Jo won their only other meeting on grass, and I’d be surprised if it didn’t go the same way – especially since Benny has had to work so hard to get here. I just hope it isn’t a total disappointment, as it is all too often when the French play each other. Prediction: Jo in three.

Winner to meet …

Sam Querrey v Andy Murray

H2H: 0-3

Sam has never taken so much of a set off Andy in their previous meetings. And Andy has yet to drop a set at this year’s championships. I think both these things might be about to change. Murray has yet to be seriously tested – and now has the full weight of our nation’s expectations back on his shoulders after the abysmal performance of England’s footballers at the World Cup today – while Sam has had two tough matches against Malisse and, er, Ivan Dodig. He also has his famously laid-back attitude (when he’s not storming back off to the States in a snit) which serves him well on an occasion like this. Still, I think Andy will win. I have to believe that when Andy loses here, it won’t be to Sam Querrey, Queen’s champion though he might be. Prediction: Murray in five.

Robin Soderling v David Ferrer

H2H: 5-2

Two of my favourite players still in this year’s draw. I’m excited. But not that excited, because Robin has looked in fearsome form and while that sometimes means a player is ripe for an upset, especially when they’re being tipped as a strong contender, it’s not going to come from Ferru (bless him), who narrowly escaped defeat at the hands of Jeremy Chardy last round when the latter enacted what I don’t think it’s unfair to describe as a massive choke. Will Ferru prove me wrong and deny everyone a Nadal-Soderling quarterfinal? No. Prediction: Robin in straights.

Winner to meet …

Rafael Nadal v Paul-Henri Mathieu

H2H: 9-0

You’ll notice Paul-Henri Mathieu is pictured running into a wall. There’s a reason for that. Rafa encountered a spot of bother in his last match, courtesy of an inspired and determined Philipp Petzchner, eventually triumphing in five sets during which he called the trainer more than once and was warned for coaching. However, Rafa says the knee (for which he called the trainer – also, something in the armular region, possibly) is not an issue, and while Mathieu has been on a good run, most impressively beating Mikhail Youzhny, it ends here. Honestly, we all know Mathieu is frantically talented, but does anyone really think he’ll keep it together enough to seriously challenge Rafa? Prediction: Rafa in straights.

Sam Querrey came out on top in the Final No-one Saw Coming, capitalising on being the only seed left in the draw after everyone’s picks for the title crashed out earlier in the competition: Rafa Nadal lost to the excellent Feliciano Lopez, Novak Djokovic to Xavier Malisse, Andy Murray to Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick to pocket rocket Dudi Sela, and Marin Cilic to Michael Llodra. It was that sort of week, so credit to Querrey and Fish for making it to the final. Fish looked the better player all week and indeed served for the second set, but seemed to be overpowered by his own desire and rather collapsed at the end of the match, leaving the field clear for Sam’s well-executed baseline game.

Both boys were suitably charming in the post-match analysis, with Sam earning bonus points for meretriciously picking England to win the World Cup and thereby deserving the traditional somewhat awkward Queens locker-room trophy photo shoot.

Strike a pose, it turns out there is something to it.

That’s Sam’s third title for the year (only Rafa has more) and he’s picked up one indoors, on clay and grass. Not a bad year for the emo one. Not bad at all.

Incidentally, if anyone’s still interested in my Queens experiences earlier in the week, I’ll try to write something. Actually, I probably will even if nobody is. So there.

The only other thing that could have made this day more of a comedy of unforced errors? A double retirement in the final and most anticipated match of the day between Tomas Berdych and David Nalbandian. Which, of course, happened. Mardy Fish and Michael Russell, anyone? I don’t even care enough to check who won.

A tough day in Belgrade for the two tall drinks of unlikely tennis player as good buddies Sam Querrey and John Isner faced each other in a final for the second time this year – only to have it end much the same way. In Memphis, Isner was up a set and 5-2; today, he served for the match and even had match point at 63 54, only for an errant forehand and a subsequent failure to put it behind him to cost him the match. Does Isner have a buddy problem, or does he just have problems closing out matches? Answers on a postcard.

Anyway, from what I saw, Sam played better as the match went on and thoroughly deserved his title – which, incidentally, made him the first man to win a title on European clay since 2003. And while big John was clearly crushed, there’s no way this trophy presentation (with special guests!) won’t have cheered him up at least a little. It did me.

Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet teamed up last week to make a fool of me, with Gasquet losing a three-set quarterfinal to Victor Hanescu when I picked him for the title and Stan crushing Hanescu in the final when I specifically didn’t. Ah well. Can’t win any of them them all. Well done to Stan.

Speaking of Hanescu, I found his unrelentingly serious ATP Uncovered adorable:

Juan Ignacio Chela d. Sam Querrey, 57 64 63

Hmmm. I know I had a pretty busy weekend, what with inventing sci-fi themed cocktails and trying to keep my unco-operative cat alive and everything, but … Chela? Winning? Is that still a thing? Was that ever a thing? I rather thought Sam Querrey had this one sewn up after he finally defeated everybody’s least favourite player, Wayne Odesnik, in the semis:

Querrey reportedly said “I refuse to lose to that guy”, and refuse to lose he did. So … what happened in the final? Anyone?

All joking aside, that’s a startlingly good run from Chela. A cursory glance at his playing record suggests that the last time he won consecutive main draw matches was in Kitzbuhel last year. So something major must have been working for him this week.

Meanwhile, props to another Argy, Horacio Zeballos, for reaching the semi-finals and defeating Gonzo along the way:

First up: further to my previous post about this tie, the Israeli team are due to arrive in Coquimbo on Wednesday. They’ve been stuck in Buenos Aires up till now which only gives them two days to train – and consequently allows them to ask for the tie to be postponed, as they are theoretically guaranteed four days. I’m not clear whether the ITF are obliged to grant the request, and in any case the tie would only be postponed until Saturday or Sunday. Still, that could be an important day or two.

Secondly, further to the tweeting of a couple of the Indian players, Nikolay Davydenko is in serious doubt for the Russia-India tie due to a wrist injury sustained in Rotterdam (either I already blogged this or I’m having major deja vu). According to Tarpischev, “his chances are very, very small“. If Kolya can’t play, he’ll be replaced by Igor Andreev.

Thirdly, the U.S. team have arrived in Serbia.

Welcome to Belgrade, boys.

Go with me here: Patrick McEnroe = Joss Whedon.

Are you coming with me?

Anyway, let’s be honest. This whole post was basically an excuse for me to indulge in one of my favourite things: photos of Novak Djokovic wearing his glasses.

Poor John Isner. He was a set and 5-2 up in the second set tiebreak up on Sam Querrey, and couldn’t close the deal.

I wasn’t watching the match – bit involved with a pair of sexy Spaniards at the time – but from all accounts, Isner somewhat choked. Great work from Querrey to hang in there and take advantage, but a tough, tough loss for Isner. Still, it’s a great result for Querrey, bouncing back strongly after his whole glass-table incident.

Fortunately for team spirit, the pair went on to win the doubles and celebrated by bringing their mums on to court: